Report finds fault in medical reasons for release of Pan Am Flight 103 bomber
The medical prognosis behind the release of the Pan Am Flight 103 bomber was inaccurate, according to a U.S. Senate report released Tuesday.
The report, ‘Justice Undone: The Release of the Lockerbie Bomber,’ was released on the 22nd anniversary of the bombing. Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, Dec. 21, 1988, killing 259 onboard and 11 people on the ground. Thirty-five Syracuse University students who were traveling home from studying abroad died in the attack.
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only man convicted in the bombing, was released on compassionate grounds in August 2009 after being diagnosed with prostate cancer and was told he had three months to live. He is still alive today and since then there has been speculation about his release, including the possibility of a deal between BP and the British government.
‘The three-month prognosis given to al-Megrahi by Scottish doctors was inaccurate and unsupported by medical science,’ according to the report, led by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) co-signed the report.
Evidence indicates Scottish government officials manipulated al-Megrahi’s prognosis, according to the report. The two Scottish doctors working with al-Megrahi had no training or experience treating prostate cancer, and there were conflicting reports on whether al-Megrahi had received chemotherapy, according to the report. The prognosis was potentially influenced by mis-reports from Libyan-hired doctors or pressure of political and economic consequences.
The report also looked into what could have caused al-Megrahi’s release, citing U.K. fears of potential commercial warfare and further speculation over the connection between BP and Libya’s oil resources.
Libyan officials said U.K. citizens were at risk should al-Megrahi die in prison, according to a Jan. 28, 2009, U.S. Embassy cable published on WikiLeaks. Additionally, the British ambassador expressed relief over releasing al-Megrahi, as not doing so would have negative consequences for British interests in Libya, according to an August. 16, 2009, U.S. Embassy cable published on WikiLeaks.
The 58-page report concluded with a list of the victims’ names. The report also included testimony from the victims’ families, including one from Aphrodite Thevos Tsairis, mother of Alexia Tsairis, an SU student who died in the bombing.
In testimony, Tsairis described al-Megrahi’s release as having justice ‘snatched’ away. She proposed al-Megrahi be incarcerated in Libya under Scottish security watch.
‘We have altruistically turned our grief into positive actions for the common good,’ Tsairis said in a testimony. ‘Senators, you have to walk in my shoes to know how victimized, abandoned and abused I feel.’
— Compiled by Dara McBride, news editor, dkmcbrid@syr.edu
Published on December 21, 2010 at 12:00 pm
